Remembering my raw evaluation of concepts in june I#m sometimes thinking wether a kind of technology-prize may be a good idea.

The goal won't be to find the best technology or a new technology but a competiton of those teams using similar technologies or similar concepts.

This would mean a competiton restricted to teams planning Horizontal Take-Off and Landing, another restricted to Teams using Vertical Take-Off and Landing etc.

This could cause significant improvements of each technology or concept.

There could be a special extension. Here in Hamburg there is a sports event each year only to be won by domination. The participants are divided into several age-categories. There is a normal winner in each of the categories whos is the fastest - but the winner of the trophy is that participant who has the largest difference in his age-category to the second.

So in the proposed "In-Technology" prize there could be a general winner who has the geratest difference in success to the secind in that technology category.

It's an idea only - I don't claim that this prize must be established. But it could cause each technology or concept to be developed to the outmost boarder being considered possible that time. ...

This is a good idea but you may want to wait for some more teams to reach the goal so you can set some solid parameters. I would have no problem if some small prizes (cash preferred) are given to the first team of each type of systems that make it.

Yes but we should care that at least one team of each type continues work on suborbital spacecrafts despite of the fact that the XPRIZE probably is going to be won by SSO today.

The CUP can secure that I hope.

My idea has a little bit different goal compared to the XPRIZE. The goal of the XPRIZE is private access to space for the general public - the goal of my idea would be access to space by several different concepts and technologies. This would be providing more chances for privates but increase the number of possible solutions too in general. This might be important concerning significant environmental differences between planets perhaps - no atmosphere (moon), thick atmosphere (Venus), thin atmosphere, desert (Mars), ice (Callisto, Europa)...